Newborn baby gorilla cuddles with mom at Cincinnati Zoo

Aug. 4, 2014
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by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

Officials say the gorilla born to 11-year-old Asha on Monday morning is healthy and weighs about 5 pounds.

The zoo's executive director says the western lowland gorilla has been holding her newborn so close to nurse and clean it that officials haven't been able to determine its sex.

The zoo now has nine western lowland gorillas, including the father, Jomo. This is the 49th baby gorilla born at the zoo and Jomo's second baby.

The species is critically endangered in the wild due primarily to logging, mineral mining and agricultural expansion destroying habitat. Zoo officials say gorillas also are illegally poached for meat, and there are fewer than 175,000 western lowland gorillas in the wild.

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